A Love Is Love is a book of poetry and short stories that tells one man's story of triumph and defeat in his journey to find the true meaning of love, life, and himself. Russ J Hughes invites you into the most intimate places of his life- his heart, his mind, and soul. Russ's journey starts with a snapshot of passion and motivation lost, then flashes back to childhood innocence and naivety of love. He then brings us to the crossroads of romance and obsession. Mistakes are made. Regrets hang in the air. And his haunting past moves the author toward the slow pathway of recovery. It sends his mind on a climactic explosion: mentally and physically. But all wounds heal with time to grieve. At times he's lost and feels alone. The sweet smell of love has turned stale. Love and life both are lost. But as his wounds heal, Russ realizes his journey was a blessing from a Higher Power, a lesson meant to teach his soul how to truly love. His journey led him to the true meaning of happiness, and an anticipation of what life can bring.The author admits, some of these poems and stories are rough around the edges, cryptic, and in a few cases, just plain bad. This was intentional. Although I edited for spelling and some blinding grammatical errors before compiling them into this anthology, I feared that if I edited them for content they might be influenced by my current feelings and level of experience. As my intent for releasing these poems and short stories was to reach out to those who are going through various stages of coming to terms with their own sexual identity, I wanted to present the audience with the raw, unedited emotions I felt during my own process. This book chronicles the common struggles youth and adults with gender-identity issues face every single day. Praised by members of the LGBTQ community, this book has helped many going through the struggle of self-acceptance learn that they can be true to themselves and still find love. Throughout the book one message holds true, that no matter what our gender identity, or our orientation, we are not alone. Others have been, or are going through it too, and it is possible to not only survive, but thrive in true love and happiness. The author invites you into the most intimate places of his life, his mind, and his very soul. All wounds heal with time, and it's true, "It does get better!"